I'm getting ready to run a de-Star-Wars'ed Saga game (all Force stuff reflavored to psychic powers, setting changed to 23rd-24th century Earth timeline) at the request of the group, and one of the players came up with a pretty nifty idea.

Basically, the idea is equivalent to skillsofts in Shadowrun, but tweaked somewhat to fit the Saga rules.

New talent: Chip Slot (Slicer tree) - You have undergone a lengthy and expensive surgical procedure that allows you to interface directly with a specific type of datachip. You gain one datachip slot, implanted in your skull. You also gain vulnerability to Ion-based weaponry (like a droid). Inserting or removing a datachip properly is a full-round action.

New equipment: Datachip - These small flash-drive sized chips come in two flavors, short-term and long-term. Short-term datachips grant an equipment bonus to a single skill or defense for one encounter, while long-term datachips grant additional abilities (feats, in particular).

Datachip, skill, narrow, +1/+3/+5 : Grants +1/+3/+5 to a particular aspect of a skill for one encounter. You are considered trained in the skill for this duration, but only for skill checks related to the narrow subset provided by the datachip. Examples: Corellian Architecture, Field Expedient First Aid, Desert Survival, Pilot YT Class Freighter. Not available for Initiative, Perception, or Use The Force. Typical price: Bonus * 100cr. These are considered Licensed.

Datachip, skill, broad, +1/+3/+5 : Grants +1/+3/+5 to a particular skill for one encounter. You are considered trained in the skill for this duration. Not available for Initiative, Perception, or Use The Force. Typical price: Bonus * 500cr. These are considered Licensed.

* Both narrow and broad skill datachips degrade after one use, but the effect is available immediately (forced download into the brain).

Datachip, skill, extended, +1/+3/+5 : Grants +1/+3/+5 to a particular skill while inserted. You are considered trained in the skill for this duration. Not available for Initiative, Perception, or Use The Force. Typical price: Bonus * 5000cr. These are considered Restricted.

Datachip, feat : Grants the benefits of a feat while plugged in. This is, in effect, a virtual feat. You cannot use this to qualify for other feats as a prerequisite. These datachips are only available for feats that have no feat or trait prerequisite. For datachips of feats that have BAB, stat, or skill prerequisites, you only gain the benefit if you meet those prerequisites. Examples: Weapon Proficiency, Armor Proficiency Light, Martial Arts I, Improved Defenses, Pin, Rapid Strike/Rapid Shot. Not available for Force feats (Force Sensitive, Strong In The Force, Force Boon, etc) or physical feats (Toughness, Improved Damage Threshold, Unstoppable Force). Typical price: 5000cr and up. These are considered Restricted.

* Extended skill datachips and Feat datachips do not degrade, but require 5 minutes to take effect (brain learning to access new areas of memory).

There are also black market datachips that may have stronger effects (+7 to a skill or Martial Arts II for example) but are hard to get, more expensive, and may have side effects (-2 Cha for example). Black market datachips are Illegal.

Basically the intention is for these to serve as something of a potion analogue (consumable bonuses) and as added versatility (Pilot skill if the only pilot gets knocked out, etc).